Gian Carlo Menotti: Nocturne For Soprano, Harp And String Quartet

This brief, elegaic work was written to pay homage to Lincoln Center benefactress Alice Tully, and was premiered there on October 24 1982. The text is Menotti's own, with thoughts of life, aging, death and rebirth. Being a nocturne - a night-piece - it is a modern-day lullaby, the end of day or life and it is faced with a serene, childlike acceptance of the inevitable. This is reflected in smooth tranquil music that never impedes the flowing pace of the work.